joy

Cumming says that the filming has been an intense experience because of the subject matter. “I have this sort of, I don’t know what it is, soreness in my heart, in my chest, when I think about it,” he says. But it’s left him feeling hopeful for the future after working alongside so many young people.

“They were so gorgeous and supportive and kind,” he says. “It’s very emotional.”

Despite the theme, the show also features a lot of uplifting solidarity and camaraderie, expressed through the younger workers who work at his bar. “Joy, queer joy, trans joy, Black joy is a form of protest”, says Cumming. “It infuriates people who don’t have joy or don’t understand why you can have joy when the world, everything seems to be against you.”

“There’s great joy [in Tip Toe].” What follows is a short pause: “Some of it.”

Many spellers also participate in a “minor league” circuit of online and in-person spelling bees throughout the school year, including my bee, the South Asian Spelling Bee, and the North South Foundation Bee. They make new friends, developing networks of spelling buddies across the country who inspire and challenge each other, turning the solitary work of studying into sociability. The National Spelling Bee thus becomes a joyous reunion. One of the cliches about the Bee, oft repeated but true, is that it’s every speller against the dictionary. Unlike similarly prestigious, high-octane competitions, the Bee is blessedly comradely, perhaps reflecting the happiness they feel at being among other spellers when competitive spelling is often viewed as eccentric by other kids.

Spelling bee participation inculcates pride in being different. Likewise, the National Spelling Bee recognizes that diversity is strength: it makes accommodations for differently abled spellers and spellers from diverse communities around the world. In a world of bogus culture wars and artificial outrage, the Bee is an opportunity for word nerds to meet up in real life, find their people and join in an innocent, genuine celebration of language. It is a vindication of difference and community: two bedrocks of democracy under threat today and, now more than ever, well worth defending.